The Reeses and the Unwound Future
by RiversOfVenice
Summary: What if the four friends Carter, Kate, Noah, and Holly found themselves trapped inside Professor Layton and the Unwound Future? I tell you: they will join the Professor and Luke's errand through future London and discover its most mysterious secrets!
1. Prologue

Soo...this is my first Professor Layton story! Yep, I hope you like it.

**Summary**: What will happen when the four friends Carter, Noah, Holly, and Kate get trapped inside the third Professor Layton game? They will find friends, enemies, conflicts and loads of adventures!

Characters

**My OCs**

Carter Allister ~ He is a joyful, nice boy. He is sort of the leader of his group of friends. He's Kate's twin brother.

Kate Allister ~ She's a serious, intelligent girl who loves being right. She's Carter's twin sister.

Noah Kane ~ Carter's best friend and an innocent, nice boy who loves having fun. He's always up to some prank.

Holly Summers ~ Kate's best friend and a crazy, funny girl who is also kinda hyper. She finds Carter and Noah's pranks pretty amusing.

**Professor Layton Characters**

Professor Hershel Layton ~ He is an archeologist professor, puzzle lover and the perfect example of a true gentleman in the contemporary society.

Luke Triton ~ A lively, intelligent boy who idolizes the professor and is fond of blue caps and teddy bears.

Flora Reinhold ~ She is Professor's Layton adoptive daughter and Luke's best friend. She is sweet, caring and nice.

Inspector Chelmey ~ A quiet, thoughtful and somewhat rude Scotland Yard chief inspector.

Barton ~ Inspector Chelmey's helper and Luke's friend.

Legal Luke ~ Someone the Reeses, the Professor and Luke will meet in the future...

So I guess that was all, let's get on with the prologue!

* * *

><p>Noah Kane dashed through the streets like crazy. In his hand, he had a plastic GameStop bag, and was moving it back and forth as he kept on running down the streets of Philadelphia.<p>

He looked up to Locust Street, 2310. It was his best friends' house, and he couldn't wait to show them what he had just bought. He pressed the bell like crazy, until Mrs. Allister, the twins' mother, opened the door.

"Hello, Noah!" she exclaimed, smiling.

"Hi, Mrs. Allister," he said with hurry. "Are Carter and Kate home?"

"Why, yes," she said. "They came back from the Game shop a while ago. They were quite sad because they couldn't buy this new Professor Layton game, you know. Oh, and Holly came with them too."

Noah beamed. "Did they say so, Mrs. Allister?"

"Yes," she said, nodding. "But please, come in Noah. Carter and Kate are in the living room."

As the boy entered the house he knew almost as well as his own, he found his three friends sitting in silence in the living room. Carter Allister, his best friend, was sitting between Kate Allister, his twin sister, and Holly Summers. They seemed pretty sad, and Noah couldn't help but feel so great because he knew he was about to make their day.

"Hey, guys!" he cheered.

The three of them turned to him with saddened expressions.

"Hi, Noah," Carter muttered.

"Guess what I have!" the boy exclaimed, shoving the GameStop bag to his friends.

As he sat by Kate, he watched the growing smiles on his friends' faces as they saw the new Professor Layton and the Unwound Future game.

"Yes!" Kate squealed, hugging Noah tightly.

"Thanks a mil, buddy!" Carter exclaimed. "Let's get my DS!"

The boy fetched his Nintendo DS from the table and placed the little game in the DS slot. Then, he turned it on, and handed the DS to Noah.

"You get to start the game since you bought it," Carter said solemnly.

Noah nodded, and tapped on the "Professor Layton and the Unwound Future" icon. A few seconds later, they could hear the Professor Layton theme song.

"Yay!" Holly exclaimed.

The four of them leaned against each other in an attempt to see the game. Noah created a new file and named it 'Reeses'. Then, the usual letter started. Except for instead of having Luke telling them how the story started, they say how the DS's screen turned white. It started pouring out light that blinded the four friends, and then they heard a faint voice.

"And now, let's go to the Clock Shop on Midland Road..."

* * *

><p>I know it was brief but it was the prologue! Well, next chapter will come soon! =D<p>

Venice~!


	2. The Clock Shop on Midland Road

"Where...where are we?" Carter muttered as he popped himself up with his arms.

The four of them were laying in a street they didn't recognize, probably far away from their city Philadelphia. Carter looked around, his head feeling really dizzy. He looked at his friends. Kate was standing up, leaning back on a wall, while Noah and Holly sat down in the street, not even daring to move.

"Midland Road," Kate said, jerking her thumb at a signal a few feet away from them.

The four kids looked around. They knew they were in a street called Midland Road, but_ which_ Midland Road? For all they knew, there could be millions of Midland Roads in the whole world.

"Look, professor," a voice mused. "They're awake."

They looked around once again, and found a boy around ten years old, wearing a blue jumper, brown pants and a blue cap. He is followed by a tall man who wears an orange jumper, black jacket and pants, and a black top hat. They both looked at the four teenagers curiously, but something in their expressions made Carter's eyes widen.

"No...it can't be..." he whispered. "Professor Layton!"

"Indeed," the professor chuckled. "How do you know me, boy?"

"I...we..." Carter stuttered. "We are all fans of your games, sir. But...but how? Where are we?"

"I fail to understand you," Layton laughed. "We're in Midland Road, London!"

The four friends exchanged worried glances.

"London?" Kate repeated, her eyes widening too.

"Where in the world did you expect yourselves to be at?" Luke laughed.

"Luke, please be respectful," the professor said. Then he turned to Carter. "Could you please explain us where do you come from?"

"We come from Philadelphia, United States," Noah blurted out. "We started playing this video game called 'Professor Layton and the Unwound Future'...and we ended up here!"

The professor tapped his chin, as if to tell the kids he was thinking. Meanwhile, Luke helped Carter, Holly, and Noah up, with a smile.

"It's obvious we're inside the game..." Holly mused.

Kate rolled her eyes. "No? Really! What made me think I already knew?"

Holly stuck her tongue out at her, but then Noah whispered something that amazed all of them.

"We have to go through the game."

They all turned to face him. The boy had a serious expressions and nodded, insisting that was true.

"It does make sense," Luke pointed out. "I still can't believe we're only part of a game, though."

"Neither can I, my boy," Layton sighed, but then he smiled to the four friends. "Well, we were actually making our way to a Clock Shop somewhere close to here. They handed the kids a letter, and after reading it, they looked at each other in amazement.

"We have to go to that clock shop," Holly stated. "Right now."

Layton and Luke glanced at each other, wondering what could possibly in the four friends' minds. Luke showed them a map.

"This is the way to the clock shop," the boy pointed at a big clock icon in the map. "And we're here." He pointed a few inches away from the clock shop. He smiled. "Short, isn't it?"

Holly nodded, then she handed the map back to the professor and the party started walking through the street in an awkward silence. The kids looked around with excitement, since none of them had been to London before. They expected huge monuments, big, bright alleyways, while what they saw was a pretty common neighborhood. They saw families strolling around, kids playing in the streets, elders looking from their balconies. They actually felt disappointed.

"London is not that exciting when you get outside the center," Luke commented. "It's usually this plain old boring place where you only find families and pretty common life."

"Nonsense, Luke," Layton said. "London is charming in every aspect. This district has the most important craft shops in the whole city."

"If you say so, professor..." Luke sighed, but then he flashed a smile at the other kids, who nodded and shrugged.

Although he would always enjoy the professor's company, the young boy enjoyed the presence of other four kids whom he thought of as strange people who would make their soon-to-come adventure even more interesting.

* * *

><p>As they arrived to a huge shop in the end of the road, they supposed that was the so-called clock shop they'd been told about in future Luke's letter. Layton observed the door thoughtfully, and then knocked. A few seconds later, an old woman opened the door with a weary expression, but her face brightened up as soon as she saw the professor's hat top.<p>

"Welcome, welcome!" she exclaimed. "Name's Spring, Cogg's wife. I believe you're professor Layton, are you not?"

"Indeed," Layton said, nodding. "These are my companions. Carter, Kate, Holly, Noah, and Luke..."

"The professor's number one apprentice!" the boy exclaimed proudly, raising his index finger to the sky.

Spring laughed, "Very well. Professor, apprentice, and companions...may you follow me inside?"

The party did what Spring told them to. They entered the huge shop, and found themselves face-to-face with a huge clock. It was disproportionally huge, the biggest clock they'd ever seen. It was around fifteen feet tall, and ten feet wide. The huge clockwise moved around with every second passing by, the tic-tac sounding in the whole shop. The six of them, speechless, stared at the clock. After a minute or so, Layton shook his head and looked at Spring, while the five children still stared at the clock.

"I need to know why did the letter send us here," he said.

"I will tell you," a male voice said from the shadows. In a second, a man wearing a long brown beard, big spectacles and a mechanist apron arrived. He smiled at Layton, cleaned his greasy hands with a cloth and offered the right one to Layton, who gladly shook it. "Cogg's the name, sir."

"All a pleasure to meet you," Layton said with a gentle smile. "So, sir, could you tell us-"

Before Layton could finish his question, Cogg disappeared inside a room, joined by Spring, and soon enough the party started hearing how the floor under them trembled, and it shook heavily as if an earthquake was taking place. Luke took his hands to his blue cap and pressed it against his head.

"Waah! 'Fessah!" he yelled.

"What's happening?" Holly screamed as she clasped a pipe tube.

"DON'T HAVE THE SLIGHTEST!" Noah answered, holding onto Kate and Carter, who had also held to Layton. They were shaking vigorously, as if the floor under them was in a rage with them. When the earthquake seemed to finish, a couple of minutes later, the six of them panted heavily, as if they had just ran a mile.

"I..." Luke stuttered, confused. "What should we do now, professor?"

"Let's get outside," Layton suggested.

"What about Spring and Cogg?" Carter asked.

"We can always come back later," Kate said, shrugging.

The four friends glanced at each other, and then nodded to Layton. When they opened the door, it creaked open and everyone's eyes widened when they saw the landscape in front of them.

"Oh my God..." Holly whispered.

* * *

><p>That was chapter two! I hope you guys liked it! Thanks to my reviewers WriterCat and tollulu. And, as an answer to tollulu's answer, her name is Kate, although I'd thought of her being called Violet before, but then changed it! =)<p>

Next chapter "Is This the Future?" will come out soon! =D

Venice~!


	3. Is This the Future?

When the party looked around, they felt really confused. The street looked the same, yet it seemed completely different. There were crystal, luxury-like buildings, and, where an old stone house stood a few minutes ago, the only thing left was a building lot full with bricklayers building a new house.

"When...when did that building start?" Noah asked.

"I didn't see that before," Luke commented.

"Neither did I," Layton agreed, tapping his chin thoughtfully. The archaeology professor walked to the man who seemed in charge of the building and asked, "Excuse me, sir, when have you started this construction?"

"Five years ago, man," the bricklayer answered in a rather rude-sounding tone.

"Excuse me, but me and my companions passed by this building less than ten minutes ago, and it was still standing in perfect conditions," the professor insisted.

"If I were you I would go check your sight then," the man chuckled. "We've been working here since eight in the morning."

Layton was taken aback by the bricklayer's rather rude manners, but then he nodded and said, "Must have been so. Have a good day."

The man walked back to the five questioning children who waited for his answer. He shook his head, and immediately everyone understood what he meant.

"Don't worry, professor," Kate said. "We'll find someone else to tell us the date."

The party started walking down the street, which seemed completely different. There were many shops they would swear they hadn't seen last time they had passed by. After a couple of minutes walking in silence, they arrived to the bus stop, Luke's eyes widened in horror.

"Look, professor!" he exclaimed. "There's...the bus stop is completely destroyed."

"I can see so," the professor agreed. "Whatever might have happened here?"

Carter shrugged, "let's ask that woman."

When the party walked to the woman, she did a notorious frown.

"Who are you?" she asked.

"Professor Layton, to your service," the professor said, curtsying.

"If I were you I would not joke about such an issue, sir," she said firmly. Then she looked at the five children. "What are you looking for, anyway?"

"Where can we catch a bus?" Kate asked.

The woman laughed. "A bus? Girl, I came from Wales five years ago and the buses weren't working any more by then. You must be confused."

"I...it can't be..." Professor Layton mused. "No!"

"Yes!" the woman said in mock happiness. Then, she walked away, grunting something none of them could make out.

"What a rude woman," Luke grunted as he inspected the bus stop. Then, his eyes widened when he discovered a paper posted in the wall. "Look, professor! This poster announces the closing of all buses in London. And the date..." the boy stood paralyzed, letting the paper flow out of his hands. "Is five years into the future."

The five others came to him with widened eyes, and observed Luke had told them the truth after they saw the piece of paper with their own eyes.

"Of course!" Noah cried. "The game's called 'The Unwound Future'! We must be here, in the future!"

"I can't believe it," Holly said, shuddering. "I _knew_ that clock shop was wicked."

"I think we should go..." Layton started, but was interrupted by someone who tapped his back. When he turned around, he found a small man who should be even smaller than Barton, Inspector Chelmey's helper, with silvery blond hair and severe scars crossing through his face. He looked at the professor blankly.

"Letter for Mr. Layton," he grunted. He handed the professor a piece of folded paper and walked away. Layton instantly opened it and started reading it, the five children leaning against each other to see the piece of paper.

_Dear professor,_

_If you're reading this, it means the time travel has been successful. You might have noticed this is not the London you used to know, professor, and the truth is this actual London is a wicked place. But if you still don't believe me, please go to Green Hospital in Auckland Street. A visit there shall clear up all of your doubts._

_With all due respect,_

_Luke Triton._

The kids looked at each other with amazed expressions.

"I think we should get moving," Carter announced.

"We need to find somewhere to rest here," Kate said. "Like a hotel or something."

"Let's walk down the street to see if we find someone," Holly suggested.

The party kept on walking through Main Street, and soon they found a young boy who shouldn't be older than seven years old. He had black raven hair and wore a green jumper and beige pants. The boy had a funny expression, but Luke decided to walk up to him.

"Hey, boy," he said. "Can you help us find an hotel?"

"ZZZZERT! WRONG!" The boy answered, crossing his fingers like an x.

"Professor!" Luke moaned as the group laughed and walked up to him.

"Let me try," Holly said. "Do you know where the hotel is?"

"DING DING DING!" the boy exclaimed, grinning. "It's down the street. Becky will check you in."

"Very well, thank you..." Professor Layton started.

"Max!" the boy cried cheerfully just before the party left.

They kept on walking down the street, until they found a girl who was a little bit older than the kids. She had long red hair in a ponytail and wore a cleaning apron. When she saw the professor heading up to her, she smiled.

"Good morning, sir," she said.

"Good morning," he said. "We were looking for a room in this hotel."

"Oh, sure!" she exclaimed. "How many of you are there?"

"Six," Luke said.

"Very well, follow me. By the way, my name's Becky. My grandma is in charge of this hotel."

The party followed Becky inside, where they were checked in by an old, happy lady. Then, Becky took them to their suite. After they rested there for a while, they decided it would be best to get moving, so they went back downstairs and asked for directions to Green Hospital.

"The easiest way to move through London is the subway," she explained. "Oh, but take care with the Family goons."

They didn't understand what the girl meant, but they nodded and went outside. Once they found themselves outside again, they saw a man with a black hat and a black coat who looked at them.

"Boss!" he cried to Layton, but when he saw he wasn't who he thought he was, he said, "You're not boss!" the man's expression turned to rage. "Don't you dare to wear that hat in public! Next time I see you wearing that, you'll have problems...I tell you!"

The professor seemed confused as the man walked away.

"Who was that man?" Luke asked as they kept on walking.

"I don't have the slightest idea, Luke," Layton answered. "But I can tell he's up to no good."

When they arrived to the subway station, they bought six three-days tickets, and hopped inside the subway. In less than five minutes, they found themselves in Auckland Street. In front of them they saw the huge Green Hospital, where they were ought to find something convincing them about the future.

"I don't need anyone to convince me," Noah grunted as they entered the hospital.

"Good morning," Professor Layton said to the woman in the reception. "I come here to visit someone. They told me you would give us the keys if I showed you this." Layton showed the receptionist the piece of paper and, after a few seconds, the woman nodded.

"Room 213," she told them with a bored glance at the stairs.

"Thank you very much," Layton said.

When they got to the room, Layton opened the door with a shaky hand. Truth be told, none of them knew why had they been sent there. Would they find someone dead, or really ill? They couldn't know. As they walked inside, they found an old man with white hair and matching beard, dressed into a typical hospital pajamas, who smiled at them. Layton knew this man very well.

"Oh, it's you, Hershel!" Professor Schrader exclaimed. "And little Luke too!"

Both of them looked in shock, and so did the four friends. They had seen Andrew Schrader in the last game, "Professor Layton and Pandora's Box", and he had seemed a lot younger than now.

"Andrew..." Professor Layton started.

"Hershel, you don't have time," Andrew said gently. "You need to go to the Laytonmobile. There you'll find what you need."

Professor Layton nodded as Professor Schrader gave him the Laytonmobile keys. Then the elder smiled. "I know you will do well with these four kids."

Layton nodded, and then he stormed downstairs to the Laytonmobile. They found the car in a quite poor state, and when they finally managed to open it, they only found another letter.

"Okay, this is getting too mysterious," Carter stated, crossing his arms.

This time, it was Luke who caught the letter first.

_Dear professor,_

_I hope you are by now truly convinced about us being in the future. If you are, please come to the Gilded Seven Casino._

_With all due respect,_

_Luke Triton._

After reading the letter, the professor placed it inside his pocket and started walking to the subway again.

"Where are we going?" Kate cried, as the five kids hurried behind him.

"To the Gilded Seven Casino," Layton answered before his voice was blocked out by the subway's noise.

* * *

><p>So that was chapter three! I hope you guys like it! As to clear up, the kids are 1112. Thanks to all my reviewers and those who have added story alerts! =D You guys rock!

Next chapter, "A Boy Named Luke" will bring in loads of new characters and more!

Venice~!


	4. A Boy Named Luke

As they arrived to the casino, they looked around in fascination. It was a huge, golden building with a huge Gilded 7 painted in a fancy script. There was a big fountain by them and, as they looked around in fascination, the professor went to the door, wondering how could they possibly open it.

"This is so amazing!" Holly cried, grinning.

"I reckon it's pretty awesome," Kate admitted, smiling.

Carter punched her friendly. "You mean of course it's awesome, sister."

Kate stuck her tongue out at her twin brother, but after thinking for a few seconds, she nodded. Noah laughed softly in agreement.

"What?" Kate asked.

"Nothing!" Noah exclaimed, a smile playing in his lips.

Kate rolled her eyes, but smiled.

"Kids, come here," the professor called them. "I think I found how can we get inside."

The five kids ran to where Layton was, and they watched how he pulled a lever up and an engine started working. A few seconds later, the door slammed open, and the six of them could peer at the inside of the building - which was, if possible, more luxurious than the outside. There were huge lamps, gold-bathed staircases, huge plants, and lots of preppy-looking gamblers ready to spend their money in the games. They entered another room, which was full with gambling machines, and men who seemed addicted to them. A young man who was around eighteen years old appeared from behind the last machine. He wore a dark blue cap, a blue jacket, a white shirt, brown pants and shoes and knee-high blue socks. He smiled naughtily at the party of six.

"It's nice to meet you, professor," he said. "Or should I say, it's nice to see you again. It's me, Luke."

Everyone's eyes widened, especially Luke's.

"You...you're me!" the ten-year-old stuttered, pointing at him.

The older Luke laughed, fixing his cap. "It's good to know." Then he turned to the four friends with a questioning glance. "Who might these kids be?"

"I'm Carter," the boy said. "This is my twin sister Kate, and my friends Noah and Holly."

"Nice to meet you," they all said in agreement.

Future Luke laughed again, "Nice to meet you too!"

"Hum...Luke," the professor said after hesitating a few seconds. "Why did you send that letter to us?"

Luke looked at him for a few seconds, with a thoughtful glance. Then he muttered, "How do I know you're the true Professor Layton?"

"What do you mean?" Luke cried. "If we're the same person, we would never doubt about the professor!"

"I know, young Luke," Future Luke told him. "But I've been tricked too many times. How can I know you're really Professor Layton?" Then he pointed at the professor. "Professor, I challenge you to a puzzle!"

The professor fixed his hat with a serious expression. "Very well."

Luke smiled, and handed the professor a paper.

_The captain of a ship was telling this interesting story: "We traveled the sea far and wide. At one time, two of my sailors were standing on opposite sides of the ship. One was looking west and the other one east. And at the same time, they could see each other clearly."_

_How can that be possible?_

The professor smiled gently. "It's quite simple. The marines were standing back to the edge of the ship so they were looking at each other. It does not matter where the ship is."

Future Luke was taken aback by his answer, but then nodded, smiling. "Very well, professor. Now I know I can trust you. Please, follow me."

The group of six followed Future Luke to the supply closet.

"Ugh," Kate complained. "Gross."

"Shut up, Kate," Carter laughed.

Kate rolled her eyes at her brother, who stuck his tongue out at her. She swatted his arm.

"Well," Future Luke said. "The reason I brought you here is to tell you London is falling into madness."

"Madness, Luke?" Holly smirked. "This...is...Sparta!"

While the two Lukes and the professor looked at her with quizzical expressions, Carter and Noah started laughing their heads off, while Kate slapped her arm.

"Owch!" Holly complained with a snicker.

"Well, as I said," Future Luke continued with a sigh. "London is under the control of an evil mastermind."

"Don Paolo?" Little Luke guessed. Future Luke shook his head. "Who is he then?"

"Professor Hershel Layton," Future Luke said.

Everyone stood frozen. That one wasn't expected. They all looked to Layton, who seemed quite fine with this last statement. Little Luke had taken his hands to his cap. He couldn't believe it.

"I was afraid you'd say that," Layton admitted, tipping his hat.

"You see, after the encident with the Prime Minister, the Professor grew consumed in his research on time travel. He grew further away from me, and even took in Dr. Stahngun," Future Luke admitted.

"This can't be possible!" Little Luke muttered. "I mean...the professor would never do such a thing!"

As they heard some footsteps coming closer, they all looked around nervously.

"I think we should discuss this later," Carter announced. "We should go away now."

As the seven of them slipped out of the supply closet, they started tiptoeing back to the entrance, but they were spotted by Bostro, a big, tanned man who smoke a big cigar and looked at them with a grin.

"Hey, boss!" he cried. They all assumed he thought Layton was his future self. "Whatya doin' here...?" he looked at them. "Y'aren't boss!"

"Let's get outta here!" Noah screamed.

But before they could make a move, they were surrounded by all kinds of Family goons - the ones Becky had warned them about. They started aiming at them and shooting, and so the party unconsciously divided into two groups and ran away. The first one, including Future Luke, Holly, and Carter, hid behind a slot machine.

"Look at those pieces..." Luke muttered.

"I'll go fetch them!" said Holly, who was quite quick. In a few seconds, she was back hiding with them, her arms full with slot machine pieces she had found scattered around the room. In no time, Future Luke and Carter had fashioned a coin-throwing device, and, as they met up with the second group (Kate, Noah Little Luke and the Professor) and started shooting at the Family goons, who were quickly scared off.

"Good job, Legal!" Carter cried, high-fiveing Future Luke.

"What?" Future Luke asked, confused.

"It's...oh, well, I thought we could call you Legal Luke, while the other could be Luke," the boy explained.

"Why Legal?" Kate asked curiously.

"He could be Legal because Little Luke is under age and he's not."

Everyone seemed to agree at this. They looked around the casino, which was pretty much destroyed. Everyone had been scared off with the shooting, and then the Family goons had left soon after they started shooting at them with the gun Legal and Carter had fashioned.

"Yeah! We beat them!" Luke cried happily.

"We?" Legal repeated, laughing. "You haven't done anything!"

"Well, you and I are the same person," Luke retorted, smiling. "That means I've helped too!"

Layton laughed, and ruffled the young boy's head. "Rather interesting reflection, Luke."

* * *

><p>So that was chapter three, "A Boy Named Luke"! I hope you guys liked it! Oh, and I fixed all the errors in the already existing chapters. Thanks a mil to all my reviewers so far! =)<p>

Next chapter will be: "The Enigmatic Future". I promise it will come out soon! =D

Venice~!


	5. The Enigmatic Future

**Quick A/N before the chapter. In this chapter, we'll have two different groups going in two different ways, so as to tell you which group are we following I'll write Legal's Group or Layton's Group every now and then. I hope you guys understood this and please enjoy this chapter, which is kinda short but important for the story! Next chapter "Back To The Present" will be quite important, though!**

**Oh and since I won't have an A/N in the end of this chapter, I'll tell you here, please R&R and thanks a mil to all my reviewers so far! You guys rock! =D**

As the group went back to Main Street, where they were to find Legal in a bistro in the commercial galleries, they found all kids of Family goons lurking around, probably in search of a man wearing a top hat.

"Professor, shouldn't you take your hat off?" Kate asked. "You know...just in case."

Professor Layton fixed his hat. "A true gentleman never takes his hat off, Kate."

"He didn't take his hat off in the first two games," Carter said with a roll of his eyes. "Did you expect him to do it here?" When Luke looked at him with a questioning glance, Carter just dismissed it with his hand and laughed. "Never mind."

When they arrived to the bistro, they found Legal talking to the postman that had handed them the second letter. They seemed to be discussing something really important, because they were so engrossed in their talking that they didn't notice the party's arrival.

"Oh!" Legal exclaimed, as he turned around. "Professor, kids. I have something really important to tell you."

"What is it, Legal?" Noah asked.

"We know where Future Layton is hiding," Legal announced. Everyone gasped. "He has his base in Chinatown, more precisely in the Towering Pagoda. He has Prime Minister Bill Hawks kidnapped there too. We have to get there, although it's plagued with Family goons and executives looking for us. You know, after the casino accident, our faces have been posted into all the Family bases throughout London."

"In other words, they want us alive or dead," Holly concluded.

Legal nodded. "Much to my dismay, Holly is right. I think we should split into two groups. Let's say Holly and Carter come with me, while the rest of you take another path. You need to take some stairs in Flatstone Street, on the way to the casino. But you need to be careful and run away from the Family if they spot you."

The professor nodded. "I believe this plan may work out well." He turned to Noah, Kate, and Luke. "Let's go, kids."

As the four of them walked away, the postman stood up and left too, leaving Holly, Carter and Legal sitting in the bistro.

"What should we do now?" Carter asked.

"Follow me, kids," Legal said. "I know a shortcut to the Towering Pagoda."

**Layton's Group**

Flatstone Street was full with people that day, dangling from here to there, shopping, chatting or simply strolling around the city.

"Professor, do you see any Family goons around?" Kate asked.

"Not yet, Kate," the professor said. Then, as he observed the street carefully, he saw a woman who was walking in the opposite direction from them. His mind froze. It couldn't be her! No, not there! He ran behind her, but, when she turned the corner, he lost her sight in the middle of the crowd. The three kids ran up to him, panting.

"What's wrong, professor?" Luke cried between pants.

"It's..." the professor muttered. "It can't be her."

"Her?" Noah asked. "Who?"

"Claire..." the professor whispered.

They all looked at each other, not understanding a word the professor was stuttering. Finally, they all stood up again and continued walking, although Layton kept on glancing back from time to time, hoping he would find that mysterious woman in the middle of the crowd again.

Claire.

**Legal's Group**

"Where are we going?" Holly asked. The group of three was walking up the inclined Midland Road. Legal seemed just fine with the walking, while Holly and Carter panted behind him, exhausted.

"Follow me," was Legal's only answer. "And you'll see."

Both friends sighed, for they had no idea where was Legal taking them. They finally arrived to a big, wooden door.

"What's this?" Carter inquired.

"We need to open this door," Legal explained. "And we'll get to Chinatown. It's a shortcut connecting Flatstone Street and Midland Road. We only need to open it with this engine..."

The three of them inspected the door's lock. It was plain to see there wasn't any key to open that door, but by pressing a button somewhere they could get the engine working and open the door. After a few minutes of silence, Holly piled all the gears on the floor and rearranged them together.

"What have you just done?" Carter cried. "Now we will never..."

The boy's voice was interrupted by the sound of moving gears as Holly pressed a button in the door. The two boys looked at it in fascination, while the girl stood by them, an eyebrow raised and a smirk in her face.

"Said what, Carter?" she asked, smiling.

"Ugh...nothing," the boy laughed as the door opened.

"Good job, Holly!" Legal exclaimed, patting the girl's back. "Let's go!"

And so the group of three stormed through the door, puzzle solved and ready to continue their adventure.

**Layton's Group**

The group kept on walking, but Layton wasn't talking any more. They looked around, with serious expressions, and, as they walked up the steps, they reached a square where only one boy sat down in a bench, observing a big bronze statue.

"Look, professor!" Luke exclaimed. "The boy and the man in that statue look like us!"

The four of them walked up to the statue, and inspected the bronze plate in the pedestal.

_A monument to true friendship - You will always be remembered._

"Professor, do you think they'd build us a statue too?" Luke asked.

Layton laughed, "Why not?"

"What do you mean, professor?" the young boy inquired. "Do you think our friendship isn't true enough?"

"Of course I think so, Luke," Layton assured quickly.

The four of them stood in silence, until they saw Luke's eyes filling with tears.

"But professor...we'll lose everything..." he muttered, wiping his tears off desperately.

"What's wrong?" Noah asked.

"Luke is going to move to the United States soon," Kate explained in a whisper.

"Oh..."

"Now, Luke, don't worry about that," the professor told him, placing his hands on the boy's shoulders. "Listen, my boy, our friendship will last even if we're apart. That's a true friendship, is it not my boy?"

The young apprentice looked up to him after wiping his tears off. "Yes, professor."

After a few seconds of smiling and hair ruffling, the four of them started walking again, this time feeling warmer and safer than before.

**Legal's Group**

As Legal, Carter, and Holly arrived to the Chinatown entrance, they found Layton, Luke, Kate, and Noah peering from behind four different columns. Carter's eyes widened at the view of the two doorkeepers.

"They look like Chelmey and Barton!" he exclaimed.

"Shh!" Kate hissed from her hideout.

"Shilling and who?" Legal repeated with a questioning glance. "Those are Shmelmey and Shmarton, two Family goons."

"Of course!" the professor whispered. "We need to go back to the present and talk to Inspector Chelmey. Maybe we can go to Scotland Yard and search in the archive in the time machine accident."

"What are we waiting for then?" Holly cried. "Let's go!"

**All Back Together**

When the Party reached the clock shop, Legal fixed his hat and smiled.

"I think I'll stay here," he announced. "I'll be waiting for you to return, professor."

The professor tipped his hat, "Thanks, Legal."

The professor walked up the stairs to the clock shop's door, and when he tried to rotate the door's knob, it creaked open, light pouring inside the mysterious clock shop that had brought the Reeses, Layton and Luke ten years into the future.


	6. Back to the Present

As the kids and Layton stepped outside, Luke took a deep breath and then grinned.

"This is the London I know," he sighed. "How I've missed it."

"It's a shame we'll have to go back to the future in a few hours," the professor agreed. "But we're in our duty to help your future self, Luke."

"Right you are, professor," the boy said. "What should we do now?"

"I believe we should go to Gressenheller University to pick some of my papers before we go to Scotland Yard," Layton said, clearing up his throat.

The Reeses, curious as ever to discover the metropolitan London, followed Luke and the professor to the bus stop, which seemed all clean and perfect, unlike the one ten years in the future. They waited patiently for the bus to arrive and when it did, Holly went all crazy yelling and pointing up to the upper seats.

"I've always wanted to sit up there!" she cried excitingly.

"Whatever, Holl's," Carter laughed, using the nickname he gave to his friend.

The girl punched him playfully, but then they hurried upstairs when they saw everyone was already up. They sat in the front seats, the London breeze hitting them gently and making Holly's black bangs flow out of their place. Since Carter's caramel-colored hair was really short, slightly spiky, it didn't flow out much of it place, while Kate's - which was just the same color but fell down to her shoulders in two braids - was swinging back and forth, and Noah's dark brown hair which went to his neck flew out of its place, making the boy's hair even messier.

They passed through Piccadilly Circus, Oxford Street and Regent Street, visiting all of London's cultural center. The kids looked around with fascination. That was the London they had all expected to see. But the trip had to end, and they were driven to Gressenheller University, where they hopped off the bus and headed to the professor's office. While they were attempting to do so, Layton was constantly interrupted by students and other of the university professors.

"Professor, here's the project I had to hand in!"

"Professor, when is our next exam?"

"Hershel, we need to check next year's timetable for the second grade."

"'Fessah! Make them go!" Luke exclaimed, pushing two twenty-year-olds aside as he attempted to reach his beloved professor.

Finally, they made their way to the professor's office. To Layton's surprise, the door was open, and when he turned the knob, he found an outraged Flora, her eyes red with crying and her face a matching rosy tone caused by anger.

"Hi, Flora!" Luke exclaimed. He was glad to see his best friend again.

"How did you dare to leave me alone, again!" she cried.

"We were in a hurry, Flora," Layton explained. "We didn't know we were going to the future."

Flora's eyes widened. "To...to the future?" Then she turned to the four friends. "So...these are kids from the future?"

"Not exactly," Noah laughed. "We come from the United States."

Each of them introduced to Flora, who gave them a small smile.

"Okay then," she sighed. "I guess it's not that bad." She grinned. "I'll go prepare some tea!"

The girl skipped to the kitchen happily. Then Layton whirled around and opened the door again.

"Let's go," he told the kids.

"We're going to leave Flora here?" Kate asked.

"We can't have her into this," Luke said. "It might be dangerous."

"But still..." Holly started, but felt how Carter grabbed her wrist and dragged her outside.

When the six of them were back outside, they hurried to the bus stop. Luke couldn't help but glance back from time to time. He was worried Flora would run outside with her raged expression and start yelling at them again. But luckily, the bus arrived before the girl did, and they hopped into the one going to Scotland Yard.

"Phew," the apprentice sighed as he fell into his seat.

"I still think we shouldn't have left her there," Kate sighed.

"If Carter hadn't dragged me outside..." Holly grunted, but smiled at her friend, who only laughed.

When they arrived to Scotland Yard, they went to the reception and asked for Inspector Chelmey, then they walked upstairs to meet the Chief Inspector in his office.

Chelmey was a big, grumpy man with a black mustache and an always-settled frown in his rugged expression. He glanced at Layton, Luke and the Reeses.

"Good afternoon, inspector," Layton greeted him.

"Hello, Layton," Chelmey said dryly. "What brings you to my domains?"

"We are looking for the archives of last week's explosion," Luke chimed in.

"And the explosion that took place ten years ago," the archaeology professor added.

Chelmey did a resentful grunt, but nodded. "Barton's downstairs in the archives. You can go downstairs and tell him I let you in."

"Okay. Thank you very much, inspector," Layton said, closing the door behind them.

"What a grumpy man," Carter said when they were out of Chelmey's earshot.

"Don't complaint, Carter," the professor said. "He has allowed us to visit the archives. Not many people can do that, you know."

The kids looked around without completely understanding the professor, but then nodded. When they arrived downstairs, they found Barton, who was something like Chelmey's helper. He was a small, red-haired man with a little matching red mustache and small facial expressions. He smiled at the sight of Luke, who always treated him so nicely.

"Oh! Hello!" the small constable cried happily, shaking both Layton's and Luke's hands. "It's such a pleasure to meet you here!"

"Hi, Barton!" Luke exclaimed.

"Inspector Chelmey told me I could search for some archives I need here," Layton explained.

"Very well," Barton nodded.

"Professor, may I go with you?" the apprentice asked.

"I think you would do better if you stay with them," the professor said.

"Oh...okay..." Luke sighed. Then he turned to Holly and Carter, and started chatting. Meanwhile, Noah and Kate looked at the professor, who examined some archives thoughtfully.

"Whatever might he be looking for?" Noah asked.

"I don't have the slightest," Kate whispered. "But I'm sure he's up to something."

"Have you thought what might happen after we finish the game?" her friend continued.

"Don't know," Kate admitted. "I hope we get back home. I mean, this adventure is amazing, but I can't help but miss mom, dad, and little Claudia."

Noah nodded, as if to tell her he understood.

"But what if we get trapped here forever?" Noah insisted. "What if there's no end? What will we do then?"

Kate swatted her friend's arm, frowning. "Don't say that."

"But-" Noah started, but was interrupted by the professor, who came back to them, closing his notebook.

"All right then," Layton said. "We may leave now." He turned to Barton and tipped his hat politely. "Thank you very much, Barton."

"You're very welcome, professor Layton." the constable said happily. "And have a good day."

As the group went outside, they kept on asking Layton what had he found out, but the professor's only answer was silence. Then, when the bus finally arrived, they hopped in.

"Off to the future!" Holly cried, running to the upper floor.

* * *

><p>As Cogg turned on the engine, the group took safe places around the clock shop, readying for the shake that was to come. When the house was about to start moving, they heard how the door slammed. Everyone's jaws dropped when they saw Chelmey, Barton, and Flora running into the clock shop and closing the door behind them.<p>

"What's happening?" Flora cried. Surprisingly enough, she didn't give Luke and the professor one of her rants.

"We're going to the future!" was the only thing Luke managed to say before his voice was blocked out by the shaking noises of the time-traveling clock shop.

**So that was "Back to the Present"! I hope you guys liked it! Well, as for the next chapter, its name is "Traveling Companions?" and it will come out soon! =)**

**Venice~!**


	7. Traveling Companions?

"Professor," Carter said. "Where are we going now?"

"We should go back to the bistro," the professor answered. "There we will meet Shipley or Legal."

Everyone agreed they would do so, but as they walked down Midland Road, they heard three voices shrieking at them.

"Layton!" Chelmey cried.

"Luke!" Flora shrieked.

"Kids!" Barton exclaimed.

They all turned back to find the three of them running to the group. When they arrived they had amazed expressions and were panting heavily.

"YOU LEFT ME ALONE AGAIN!" Flora cried, her face red with anger.

"Flora..." the professor started.

"No, professor!" Flora exclaimed. "I can't believe you did this to me!"

"Flora, you're exhausted," Luke pointed out.

The girl rolled her eyes and slapped his head. "Thanks for telling me something I already know, egghead."

"Where are we, Layton?" Chelmey asked.

"In the future," the archaeology professor.

Chelmey and Barton, along with a surprised Flora, looked at the professor with a serious expression. After a few awkward minutes of silence, Chelmey started laughing hard.

"You're joking, Layton!" he cried. "Seriously, what a joke."

"We're serious!" Holly exclaimed. "We are in the future. Look around! This is not our time's Midland Road."

"Good sight, girl," Chelmey snickered. "I wonder where did these four come from."

"Long story," Kate said while they started walking away.

"Besides, I don't think you want to know," Noah added.

As the party of seven left Chelmey and Barton in Midland Road, wandering around and completely lost. They walked down to Flatstone Street, where they got to the hotel.

"Flora, I think you should stay here for a while," the professor decided.

"But I don't want to be left alone again!" the girl groaned.

"I'll stay with you," Kate said, rubbing the girl's arm. "Come on, it will be fun."

"I'll stay too!" Noah quickly agreed, and sat by Kate.

"You sure?" Holly asked. "We might need to stick together, just in case."

"Ah, don't worry," Noah laughed. "We won't move from here."

"Very well then," the professor agreed. "Let's go."

Layton tipped his hat and smiled at the three kids and the remaining group walked outside, thanking Becky and her grandmother and then went to the galleries. To their surprise, when they entered the bistro, they found Shipley, the cooker and Max inside.

"Is he your father, Max?" Carter asked.

"DING DING DING! Correct!" The boy cried. "His name is Paillard and he's the owner of the bistro."

"It's a pleasure," the cooker said with a friendly smile. "I believe Shipley was waiting for you."

"Indeed," the postman said, nodding. "I have a note from Legal. He is waiting in the park observatory."

"Thank you, Mr. Shipley," Layton said. "We'll get there as fast as possible."

The party of four walked out of the bistro, and then walked up through Flatstone Street until they arrived to the park, and saw Legal in the observatory, holding something behind his back. Holly and Carter, who had grown to be friends with Legal, ran up to him.

"Hey, Legal!" Carter exclaimed. "Have you got anything?"

"I know how can we get into Chinatown," the future boy answered, beaming. "Meet...Polly the Parrot!"

The kids looked at a beautiful, big parrot Legal pulled out of his back. It had green and yellow feathers, and a black beak and black claws. It chirped happily when it saw the three kids and the professor, and quickly hopped onto Luke's arm.

"Hiya, buddy!" the boy said happily, fixing his hat. He stroked the parrot's head for a few minutes and then said, "What are we supposed to do with her, anyways?"

"We need to get Polly to imitate Bostro's voice, in order to trick Shmelmey and Shmarton," Legal explained.

"Magnificent plan, Legal!" the professor exclaimed, patting the young man's back. "But where may we find Bostro."

"I believe he's in the ruined casino," Carter said. "That's what I heard a girl say a few minutes ago."

The group, now of five, headed towards the destroyed Gilded 7 Casino, up Flatstone Street. When they were walking through a dark alleyway, they jumped into a man with a big, lilac afro-head and a matching lilac mustache. He wore a lab apron and had his feet soaked, although he wore shoes.

"Excuse me, sir..." Layton started.

"AH!" the man cried. "I...! Not you!"

"Look, sir, calm down," Legal said. "Could you please tell me your name?"

"Avogadro, sir, but..." the little man looked around anxiously. "Sorry!"

And so the group watched Avogadro scurry away through the dark London alleys.

"Why was he so scared?" Luke asked. "And why did he have his shoes soaked?"

"I don't know, Luke," the professor admitted, tapping his chin thoughtfully. But that's something we'll find out later. Right now, we need to get to the casino."

When they arrived to the destroyed casino, they saw what they hadn't seen when they had ran away from there. Where the luxurious, magnificent building stood, the only thing left was a bunch of wires, burnt wooden planks and pieces of walls scattered around. The structure itself barely stood up, and there was a big poster with the words: "UNDER CONSTRUCTION" stuck to the fountain. In the casino door, they could see Bostro yelling at a scared Family goon. He seemed pretty mad, well, as mad as you would be if someone had caused the destruction of your super-popular casino. They all hid behind the fountain while Polly memorized everything Bostro said. When the parrot gave them a nod, they all scurried away from there to the woods, halfway to Chinatown.

"GO AWAY! NOW! GO AWAY!" The parrot mocked the Family executive.

Legal grinned. "Awesome job, Polly!"

"Come on, let's go," Carter said.

When they arrived to the Chinatown entrance, Luke nodded at Polly and the bird obediently started chirping what she had learnt from Bostro.

"Huh?" Shmelmey said, looking up.

"That's Bostro's voice!" Shmarton exclaimed.

"GO AWAY! NOW! GO AWAY!" Polly repeated.

"Shmelmey!" the smaller one said. "Let's do what he says!"

The two doorkeepers did what the parrot told them to do and ran away, letting the group through the great doors of Chinatown.

**So that was it! Next chapter, "Chinatown" will come out soon! =)**

**Venice~!**


	8. Chinatown

Chinatown did not exist in the London Luke and Layton knew. It was just another proof of their arrival to a future, modern time. Scarlet Street, Chinatown's main avenue, was full with people of all sorts of cultures, walking around and having fun. As they watched the street, they found the Towering Pagoda laid just by the end of this street.

"We should ask for indications," Holly suggested.

They walked up to a boy who should be around Max's age. The boy looked at them with a naughty grin.

"What's up?" he asked.

"Hi," Carter said, knowing the professor would scare the boy off with his hat. "Er...I'm Carter."

"Dylan."

"Well, we're looking for the Towering Pagoda..." the boy said. "Any idea of how can we possibly get inside?"

"Don't have the slightest," Dylan chuckled. He jerked his thumb at a girl a few feet behind them. "Ask Viv. Her father went inside once."

"Thanks," Carter said.

They walked up to the girl, who wasn't older than Carter and Holly. She had brown hair and wore a blue dress, and had a naughty grin matching Dylan's.

"Hiya!" she said. "Viv's the name, buddies."

"Professor, this future people speak so weird," Luke whispered to Layton's ear, to which he only got a nod as an answer.

"Hi, Viv." Holly said. "I'm Holly. We wanted to ask you about how can we enter the Towering Pagoda."

Viv gasped and looked at them. "The Pagoda? Why...why would you want to go there?"

"We need to find someone," Carter said.

"I...well...you...there's Ward," Viv said, pointing at a man with rugged features and a frown expression. "He might let you in."

"Thanks," Holly said.

They walked up to Ward, who didn't seem like one of the Family goons. In fact, he was one of Future Layton's most important executives.

"Hello," Layton said, tipping his hat. "Mind you let us in?"

"I'm sorry, boss is out right now," the man snickered. "Come back later."

They tried to make Ward tell them something else, but it was useless. They looked around, and decided to ask the locals where could the Family's head be. However, they got no answers, and when they had looked all throughout the Chinatown district, they sat down in a bench, exhausted.

"This is impossible!" Carter sighed.

"Where are you, professor?" Holly asked dramatically.

"Here," the gentleman said.

"Now what?" Luke inquired.

"We should wait and see if future Layton comes back," Legal suggested.

As they sat in silence, an old man in his late sixties walked up to them. He seemed like the old city man who usually walks through the city and sits down in a bench to look up at the sky.

"Hello, youngsters," the man said happily.

"Hello, sir," Layton said.

"I was wondering if you could do me a favor," he said. "My name is Rudolph, by the way. Well, what was I saying..."

"You needed us to do you a favor," Carter reminded him.

"Oh, yes!" the elder exclaimed. "Well, the thing is my wife Myrtle is waiting to prepare lunch, but I'm afraid I've already had lunch with my friends in a pub. Could you go tell her I'm not going back until diner?"

"Professor, we need to stay here to see if your future self arrives," Luke whispered.

"Of course," Layton said. "Holly and Carter will go, will you not kids?"

"Oh, sure," Holly nodded. "It will just take a second. Let's go, Carter."

When the two kids stood up, Rudolph told them his wife was the owner of the pet shop, and when they started walking, the elder looked at them and winked his eye.

"When you come back, I'll tell you something you might find useful."

The two kids nodded quickly and ran up to the pet shop, where they found a woman in her late sixties and seemed to be Myrtle, Rudolph's wife.

"Hello," Carter said politely.

"Oh, hi, dears," the woman said happily.

"We...we have a message from your husband, Rudolph," Holly said. "He told us he has already had lunch in a pub and will not come until diner."

The woman looked at them, crestfallen.

"Really?" her eyes filled with tears. "That old man always does the same thing! I prepare his lunch and then...buh-bye! He goes off with Randall and Benedict to a pub and leaves me alone!"

"We're really sorry, miss," Carter assures. "But we need to leave now..."

"Don't you worry, lad," the old woman said, ruffling the boys hair. "I just hope when you get married you're not like my Rudolph."

Carter eyed Holly nervously, but the girl just smiled and shrugged. After a few awkward seconds, they both said goodbye and went back to Rudolph, telling him what had happened in the pet shop.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," he muttered. "I shouldn't play with my Myrts like that...I'll go back home!"

"Wait, sir!" Holly cried. "Weren't you going to tell us something?"

"Oh, yes!" Rudolph exclaimed. "I know where Layton is." The man, oblivious to the five shocked expressions in front of him, kept talking. "He must be somewhere close to the riverside. His favorite restaurant is The Thames Arms, which located in a harbor near here. In front of the lighthouse, you know?"

"Thank you very much, Rudolph," Layton said politely. He looked at his young companions and said. "Now we need to go to The Thames Arms."

**So that was it! I hope you liked it, sorry if it sucked! I know last chapters have been short, but they're important to the development of the story! "A Meeting By The River" comes next! =)**

**Venice~!**


	9. A Meeting by the River

"This London is beautiful," Carter commented, his hands stuck inside his pockets as they walked down the riverside.

"My London is quite awesome too," Luke grumbled.

"I'm just kidding, Luke," Carter laughed. "Both Londons are awesome."

"And where do we have to go again?" Holly asked, slapping both boys' heads, making Legal chuckle.

"The Thames Arms," the older Luke told them. "I know where that place is. I used to go have dinner there when I was younger."

"Really? Did we?" younger Luke asked in amazement. "I mean, will I? Ugh, this is so confusing!"

"Never mind," Legal said, laughing.

They walked in silence for a few minutes, observing the landscape around them. First, they walked through dark woods that gave the three kids the creeps. Then, they walked through the riverside, which was peaceful and a lovely place to sit and watch the sunset. But they didn't have time to watch the sunset, they needed to go down to The Thames Arms if they wanted to find future Layton.

"Look, professor!" Luke exclaimed. "There's the restaurant!"

"Hold on, mini-me," Legal laughed. "You need to go down these stairs." He pointed at a metal staircase a few feet away from them and laughed. "See?"

"Mini-you?" Luke repeated, crossing his arms. Layton, Legal, Holly, and Carter laughed again. "Anyways, why did you say you? Aren't you coming with us?"

"Legal is going to go back to the hotel and bring Flora, Kate, and Noah to Chinatown," the professor explained.

"We'll meet in the Pagoda entrance," Legal said. He tipped his blue hat and bade goodbye to his friends, then disappeared down the street on his way to the hotel.

They walked down the steps carefully, since they were slippery with the rain that Luke had told them had fell while they were in the present. When they reached the end of the stairs, they looked around. There was a little wooden harbor, a little building they couldn't identify and, to their left, the little restaurant The Thames Arm. They had a beautiful view of the river Thames, the lighthouse and the other side of London. Carter couldn't help but wish they could visit all those mysterious places London had.

"We should get moving," Holly whispered to her friend.

The boy looked at her, and shook his head. Then, he nodded, and both of them followed the other two, who were already walking ahead. When they were about to take the path leading to The Thames Arms, a hare ran into their way and looked at them menacingly.

"Oh, look professor!" Luke said. He turned to the hare and smiled. "Hey, bunny bunny!"

"I'm not a bunny bunny!" the hare exclaimed. "I'm Subject 3!"

The group was taken aback by the hare's sudden answer.

"It can talk!" Holly whispered.

"No, I can juggle with teddy bears, can't you see?" the hare deadpanned.

"Why are you so mean?" the girl exclaimed, crossing her arms.

"You didn't expect a genetically manipulated hare to be nice, did you?" it snorted. When Subject 3 saw the four humans staring at him blankly, he rolled his eyes. "You don't know what I am?"

"Not really..." Layton admitted. "But could you tell us?"

"What makes you think I will?" Subject 3 snorted.

"Tell us, tell us!" someone chirped from Luke's back.

They all turned to find Polly the parrot behind them. It quickly hopped onto Luke's shoulder, while it chirped happily at Subject 3.

"Subject 2..." the genetically manipulated hare whispered.

"What do you mean?" Carter asked. "Who is Subject 2?"

Subject 3 sighed, "I guess I'll have to tell you my story then..."

_When I was just a little leveret, a bunch of men in white laboratory aprons took me away from the burrow I lived in. My parents and siblings died when the humans started experimenting with them, but they took me to a special genetic study place. They gave me my name: Subject 3. I had three fellow subjects: 1, a little pig, and 2, your fellow parrot Polly. We were forced to all kind of horrible experiments, from simple psychoanalysis to powerful electrical shots that would make us pass away for days. Oh, and there was the operations we had to bear. They moved all our organs around, fiddling with them as if they were mere toys...after a few years in our personal hell, all of us decided to escape. Subject 2 and I accomplished this, but Subject 1 was killed by the Family goons. This all took place in a research facility near here, although I can't remember its exact emplacement, since it's been so long since Subject 2 and I ran away..._

"Whoa...Subject 3..." Luke whispered. "Your story is really sad."

"No! Really?" the animal asked, rolling its bloodshot eyes.

"So Polly is genetically manipulated too." Layton said, tapping his chin. Subject 3 didn't use one of his sarcastic remarks this time, but simply nodded and gazed down. The professor smiled at the hare. "Thanks for all the information, Subject 3...but would you please let us to The Thames Arms? We need to get there and meet someone."

"Whatever," the hare sighed. "I'll let you through."

They all walked past the sad hare, and when they were out of its earshot, Carter commented, "Poor thing."

"It's awful he has been forced to go through all that," Holly sighed.

"Look!" Luke exclaimed. "There's the restaurant!"

They all hurried inside. To their dismay, the restaurant was now completely empty, aside from the waiter, who was cleaning the silverware thoroughly, and only noticed the party's arrival when they all walked to him. The man looked up. He had a big afro hair and wore black John Lennon style glasses, his skin slightly tanned and with a serious expression.

"Excuse me, sir," Layton finally spoke up. "Have you seen a man with a top hat similar to mine around here?"

"Why, yes," the man said. "He just left a few minutes ago. I know he's a costume lover, he told me so a few days ago. But what is the purpose of your research, sir?"

"He's an old friend of ours," the professor said bitterly. Then he turned to the owner and smiled. "Thanks, sir. Have a good day."

"Have a good day," the man agreed, and went back to the cleaning as the group left the restaurant.

"What are we going to do now?" Luke asked.

"I think it's obvious," Carter said. "Off to the Towering Pagoda!"

**Haha, that was chapter nine! Next one, "The Master of the Towering Pagoda" will come soon and it's one of the most important chapters in this whole story! =D**

**Ah...I've grown to thinking Holly and Carter should be together. I mean, they're so cute together! I gave them the main spot, while Kate and Noah are kind of minor characters...maybe I should give Kate and Noah more relevance in future chapters, but again, I love them together! ^^**

**I found the review button for you, it's down here! It wants you to click on it!**

**V V V V V V V V**


	10. The Master of the Towering Pagoda

When they were all finally reunited in Chinatown, the party of eight was ready to enter the Towering Pagoda. Flora had been successfully filled in by Kate and Noah, who were glad to be in the adventure once more. Truth be told, staying in the hotel had been quite boring.

"Finally!" Kate cried. "Good grief! It took forever!"

After the three of them were filled in with the information about Subject 3 and everything they had discovered in Chinatown, they walked to the Towering Pagoda. The Family executive who was guarding the door wasn't there anymore, so the eight of them slipped inside and closed the door behind them.

"Kids, I'm going to go look for something," the professor said, looking to the Pagoda's gardens. "I'll be right back."

"Can I come with you, professor?" Luke asked.

"I'd rather have you staying with the others," Layton admitted. "But don't worry, I'll come back in a second."

"Oh...okay professor..." the young apprentice sighed, and sat down in the steps with the other seven members of the party. "We will wait."

The professor smiled, and walked out of their sight. They were engulfed by an awkward silence, which Holly, the official chatterbox, broke quickly.

"So where might the professor be?" she asked casually, trying to crack up the tension visible in the air.

"Who knows," Legal said. "Knowing him, he might very well be in the other side of the city right now."

"Maybe he's scheming something to defeat his future self!" Noah suggested. "Something like a machine or something."

"Without telling us?" Luke said. "No, I don't think so."

"His apprentice pride is hurt right now," Carter chuckled, patting the boy's back.

They all sat in silence, until Layton came back and signaled they could go inside.

They walked through the Pagoda silently, trying to avoid the Family goon and other obstacles that might slow them down. They knew something wicked was hiding there, something none of them could tell. All they wished for was whatever that threat was, it would disappear soon. They walked in silence, tiptoeing and without making a noise. There mustn't have been anyone half as silent as them in the whole London city.

"We're here," the professor announced when they reached the last floor. As they tried to open the door, it creaked open by itself.

The eight of them followed the professor inside. The room was a big, comfortable-looking study with mahogany walls and a red carpet floor. From the wooden walls hung all kinds of impressionist paintings. If you looked at them close enough, you'd find puzzles inside of them. There was also a big, wood desk with a comfortable couch. There were papers scattered through the desk and the floor around it, quills and pens and even ink bottles. There was a wide window that went from the room floor to the ceiling, several feet wide. A man stood backwards to the group, gazing through the window. The children couldn't see it, but he was frowning. And wore a top hat. He let out a chuckle that startled them all.

"You're finally here," he said without turning back.

Legal clenched his fists. Kate looked at him worriedly, she knew that man had made him suffer a lot when he was only a kid. She touched his hand softly, and gave him a warm smile. The young man smiled back, too, but then looked back at the older professor, who still looked outside.

"Turn around!" Luke yelled furiously. "Turn around if you have the guts to show your face!"

"Shut up!" Noah hissed, covering the boy's mouth with Flora's help.

The man chuckled again, and turned around, although this wouldn't help if he tried to reveal his face, for his high top hat engulfed the man's countenance in a complete darkness. They could see the corner of his mouth as he gave them a half-crooked smile and looked around.

"Hello," he said slowly. "Professor Hershel Layton."

"Professor," Layton said coldly. "Or should I say, doctor." Everyone looked at the archaeology professor, startled, but he only flashed a smile and finished his sentence. "Doctor Stanghun."

The man did a soft chuckle, and nodded. "How did you know?"

"I had that feeling for a while," the professor explained. "But my thoughts were confirmed in our visit to The Thames Arms, and when I saw you hadn't thought about what I had done ten years ago, coming here and getting you." he smiled, and kept on talking. "Yours was a very complex plan, Stanghun. Or, should I say again, Dimitri Allen."

The man quickly pulled off the black top hat and the brown coat and revealed himself as his true self: a gray-bearded man with matching gray hair, wearing a white outfit and a white hat. He smiled at Layton mischievously.

"Okay, Layton, you discovered me," he admitted. He chuckled. He pressed a red button in a TV remote, and a cage flew down from the ceiling, locking the group inside.

"Let us out!" Carter screamed.

They all looked at Layton, who just stood there, frozen. He couldn't look less human. They heard his voice, but couldn't see his lips moving.

"Not quite yet, Allen."

They turned around to find the professor was standing outside, glaring at the scientist with a great intensity.

"Professor!" Luke yelled. "You're there!" he turned to the other Layton. "Who is he then?"

Just as Luke finished his question, the fake Layton took his disguise off and revealed himself as Don Paolo, Layton's enemy.

"Don Paolo!" the kids cried in unison.

"It's me," the man grunted, wiping dust off his purple coat.

They all looked at Dimitri, who was laughing like crazy. What was this man up to? He seemed crazy right there. The professor ran up to him, and pressed the button that freed his companions. Despite this, the eight of them stood there, frozen, staring at Dimitri. The man had stopped laughing and looked at Layton menacingly.

"Why do you do this, Dimitri?" Layton spat.

"Layton," he said, giving the professor a little frown. "I need to go back to twenty years in the past."

"Why?" the other man insisted.

"Layton," he said firmly. "I loved Claire too."

Layton clenched his teeth and tried to snatch the remote off Dimitri, but the man simply ran away from them and started laughing again.

"Good try, Layton," he said, still laughing. "But wait to see what I've been hiding all along."

Dimitri pressed a button in his remote. The bookshelf turned around, the books flying around the room in the process. When it had finally rotated one hundred eighty degrees, it revealed Bill Hawks, the Prime Minister, tied up to a chair.

"Prime Minister!" Luke gasped.

"MMPH!" the man said, but no one made out what he meant, since he was gagged. Dimitri Allen let out another little chuckle.

"Too bad you'll never get to know what he says," the man said, grabbing the Prime Minister's chair. He pressed the red button one last time and grinned mischievously. "See you later, Layton!"

As the library started turning back, the professor uselessly tried to stop it, and was left with nothing. He looked at the bookshelf in frustration, then at his companions, who stood there. Carter slowly shook his head, breaking from his mental paralysis, and went to pick up the hat.

"What are you doing?" asked Holly in a whisper, which was a strange thing, for Holly always spoke so loudly.

"LOOK!" they hear Bostro yell. "THEY'VE ENTERED THE BOSS'S STUDY!"

"Quick, kids!" Layton cried. "Let's split up. Kate, Noah, Flora, and Luke, come with me. Carter, Holly, Paul and Legal, you go through this secret passageway!"

The professor showed them a secret passageway hidden under Dimitri's table. The four of them cradled inside, immediately engulfed by the complete darkness. Layton closed the little hatch above them, and they were surrounded by complete darkness.

"What now?" Carter whispered, fixing Dimitri's old disguise hat on his head. Having the hat on made him feel rather distinctive.

"Layton's going through the other passageway," Don Paolo explained. "Through the bookshelf."

"But Dimitri took the remote!" Holly exclaimed.

"Not the left one, the right one," the evil man said. He rolled his eyes, but since no one could see him in the darkness, he kept on talking, "he's found a passageway through there. He'll distract the Family goons and then they'll sneak away."

"I like that plan," Legal said. "But what about us?"

"Let's get walking." Carter suggested.

They placed their hands on the wall, guiding themselves through the darkness. Carter knew how blind people felt right then - nervous, careful, lost. Those were the three adjectives that described Carter as the four of them made their way out of the Pagoda, until they went back to Chinatown. When they arrived outside, the sudden outburst of colors and light made the boy dizzy, but after a few seconds adjusting his vision to daylight, he looked around. They were in the entrance of the Pagoda. When they looked around, trying to find Layton and the others, they found a piece of paper fixed into one of the front dragon's teeth. Legal quickly pulled it and read it to the others.

_Legal, Paul, Holly, and Carter,_

_We've walked ahead because Bostro and the Family goons are following us. I'm writing this as we run through the Pagoda's passageways, so I hope it's not too messy. Anyways, the professor says we should meet in The Thames Arms Dock. There, he and Paul will clear things up. Oh, and Kate tells Carter to piss off and not act like the leader, because Paul and Legal are older and obviously wiser than that dimwit. Sorry if Carter is reading this._

_Good luck,_

_Luke and the others._

"My sister..." Carter sighed, but smiled. He felt relieved to know his sister was okay, and Noah and the others too.

The group of four stood in silence, staring at the piece of paper. The Pagoda was now empty, so there was no risk about a family goon popping out from the middle of nowhere and shooting them. They were paralyzed, shocked about all the news they had learnt about during the last half an hour. First, they finally found the future Layton, only to find out he wasn't actually future Layton, but Dr. Stanghun, only to then find out Dr. Stanghun was no one but Dimitri Allen, a scientist and one of Claire's lover.

"Why are you so stunned, Don Paolo?" Holly finally asked.

"I...look..." Don Paolo stuttered. He glared at the two kids, then at Legal. "You...I won't tell you!"

The three companions looked at each other and shrugged. After a few seconds looking at Layton's enemy, the man looked away, offended, and they stood there for another couple of minutes, each of them scratching the back of their heads.

"So what are we waiting for?" Legal asked a few minutes later. "To the Thames Arms Harbor we go!"

**Well, this was chapter ten! I hope you guys liked it! Remember, it's pretty crucial for the story! =) Next chapter, "Across the Thames" will come out soon!**

**~Venice**

**P.S. I changed my signature. See? =D**


	11. Across the Thames

When the second group arrived to the Thames Arms Harbor, the other five were already waiting for them.

"Where were you?" Kate scolded her brother.

He shrugged. "Don Paolo wouldn't tell us something that's bugging him."

"I won't tell you because you're just two little twerps," he snapped, crossing his arms.

"I will tell you, if that's the matter," Layton said, and looked at his old 'enemy' with a little frown, but smiled. "Thanks to Paul, we have been able to survive Dimitri's wrath."

They all looked at each other. Luke, Flora and the Reeses couldn't believe the man who had schemed against Layton for years had actually helped them when they needed him the most. He had proved he wasn't all evil. That man, that very man they had considered their enemy all along, had proved to be more than a simple enemy, but also a friend.

"No, Layton," Paolo says, shaking his head slowly. "If it is going to be revealed, I'd prefer to say it."

"If you'd like," the professor said, shrugging.

"Well..." the purple-dressed man said. "Where to start? Oh, well, I first need to say Hershel and I went to the same college. There, we both met a girl named Claire Mayfield, and we immediately shared a common interest: we both fell in love with her."

They all looked at each other, gasping. The kids didn't know Layton's old girlfriend had caused such an expectation among college students. But finally, it was Layton who she chose, and truth be told, it was the best decision she could possibly take, although none of them would mention this, being Paul in front of them. The man stood silently, his hands stuck deep into his pockets. They remained in an awkward silence until someone spoke up.

"We should look for Dimitri," Flora whispered.

"True," Layton agreed. "He might very well be escaping while we're standing here doing nothing."

They all set foot to the research facility entrance, which was a semi-shperical building a few minutes' walk alway. They walked in silence, looking at each other, Layton squeezed Paolo's arm reassuringly, but the man grunted and trimmed his mustache silently, after letting out a sigh. It was obvious he had been through a lot during the last years. Losing Claire, devoting his life to attempting to destroy Layton...it must all have been exhausting. After all, Paul might have very well been wicked man, but he was a man anyway. He had his feelings, his rights and thoughts.

They finally arrived to the semi-spherical building. The door was open, so they quickly walked in and closed it behind themselves, locking the door in the process.

"Great, Carter," Kate sighed. "Now we don't have a way out."

"It wasn't me!" her twin brother protested. "Legal locked the door."

"Don't worry, the key's here," the elder Luke laughed, taking them from his pocket.

They all looked at him, startled. Finally, Holly spoke up. "How did you get them?"

"I stole them from Shmelmey," Legal explained. He seemed to frown a little, and muttered, "let's go."

They all followed the young man through the passageways. How did he know them so well? Kate snickered, he seemed to know them by heart. When he turned around and glanced at her questioningly, she just stifled a laugh and waved her hands as if to say everything was okay. By the time they had hopped down a sewer, Holly was feeling disgusted.

"How come we have to walk around these places?" she protested. When she saw a rat eating the sewer's mold, she shrieked, and hopped back onto Carter.

"It's fun, Holl's!" the boy exclaimed.

She just stuck her tongue out at him and kept on walking.

They finally arrived to a basement full with wooden boxes. They hid behind them and found Shmelmey and Shmarton guarding in front of a metal door.

"Great, klutzes A and B are here," Kate grunted.

"How are we going to get through now?" Noah asked.

"Wait here!" Holly exclaimed.

As her companions watched her curiously, she tiptoed to a rope in the other side of the room. Someone had tied it to a metal box. She looked up and found a wood box just enough to smash Shmarton and Shmelmey unconscious. She untied the knot with her agile hands and crossed her arms as she waited for the wooden box to fall over the two goons' heads.

"Holly!" Carter shrieked. "That was too drastic!"

The girl shrugged. "We need to get through, don't we?"

"Where did you learn to do that?" Flora asked in fascination.

"Pal, spend your summer in a marine camp and you'll know how to do that, and more," she laughed.

"Come on, let's go," Legal announced.

They all started walking again, this time through modern, metal halls. There were many panels showing the city's activity, probably using surveillance cameras. Luke looked at one just in front Betty's hotel in Flatstone Street.

"Look, professor!" the boy exclaimed. "There's the hotel!"

"No wonder they knew where were we going," Noah chuckled.

"Indeed," the professor agreed. He looked around. "We should be minding the paths we're taking, kids."

"And Paul," Don Paolo added.

"And Paul," the professor agreed.

As they kept on walking, they found themselves trapped inside a labyrinth. The hallways twisted up, down, left and right, carelessly throwing them into a new direction. After they had walked for almost a quarter of an hour, they heard a voice calling for them.

"Look, it's them! The Gilded Seven kiddos, the fake boss and the young man with the blue cap!" Bostro cried.

"Uh-oh..." Kate whispered.

They found themselves face-to-face with almost thirty family goons who ran behind them. They started stomping back to where they had come from, but the labyrinth's twist wouldn't allow them to find the exit. When they were just a few feet away from the goons, they found a woman who seemed to be looking for them.

"Claire!" the professor gasped.

"No, I'm not Claire," the woman said. "I'm her younger sister, Celeste. Follow me!"

Even though the gang knew nothing about the so-called Layton's old love's sister, they followed them down the hallways, and they ended up tripping over Shmelmey and Shmarton's unconscious bodies. While they all panted, exhausted, Celeste entered a code in the metal door, which quickly closed and looked at them.

"I must go now," she said. "But we have to meet soon. This London hides a big secret you must know. I'll meet you all in the old father's embrace at five o'clock!"

As the young woman started running away, the Professor stood up, wanting to ask something. But when he opened his mouth, she was already gone. Layton scurried back down, sitting next to the others. While most of them were panting heavily, the professor's mind was racing. He remembered everything that had happened in the explosion ten years ago. Not only the laboratory was destroyed, but also the houses around. When the professor had arrived there, looking for Claire, a boy who wasn't older than six years old came to him, sobbing hardly on his shirt. His parents had died in the explosion, and now he was all alone. Layton had picked up the boy and told him he would be fine. After the boy gave him a hug with his little arms, a policeman took him away.

Everything was starting to make sense now.

* * *

><p>Oh yes! Chapter done!<p>

Sorry I haven't updated in a while, but I've been busy with my other story, school, ect. Well, it's only three chapters plus the epilogue to go! =)

Next chapter, "The Truth Revealed" is REALLY important, so I bet you guys don't want to miss it! =D

~Venice xx


	12. The Truth Revealed

As the group had recovered the marathon they'd run escaping from all the Family goons, they stood up silently and started walking - in a quick pace, but walking anyway - away from the research facility. Carter would turn around every five seconds, only to have his twin sister pushing him, picking up his pace.

"We need to get to The Thames Arms," she scolded. "We need to know what's going on here."

"I think that girl is hiding something," Noah commented.

"Claire never mentioned a sister," Layton sighed. "But her family lived in Norfolk, so I guess she might have very well had ten siblings and I wouldn't know."

When they arrived to the riverside, Luke's legs started feeling shaky. He looked around. He was clearly anxious about everything that would be happening next. When he looked around, he found his future self wasn't with them any more.

"Professor, where is Legal?" he asked then.

"He went ahead to The Thames Arms with Paul," Holly told him. "He said he wanted to find someone."

By the time they had arrived to the dock where The Thames Arms stood, they found Legal, Chelmey and Barton there. The youngest was waiting with his arms crossed, as if he were fed up with waiting, while the other two seemed rather surprised to find the group there.

"Good afternoon, Inspector," Layton said. "Legal, Barton."

"Professor, everyone is waiting inside," Legal said. Anger, sadness, or maybe curiousness could be detected in his voice. "The owner, Paul, Celeste...everyone is inside, professor."

"Good job, boy," the professor told him, and looked at the kids. "Let's get inside."

When they entered the room, they saw the restaurant's owner cleaning the silverware as he usually did. Celeste was sitting in a table, a cup of tea in her shaky hands, and Don Paolo was leaning onto the wooden bar. He held a glass of beer. He frowned when he saw the group, but stood where he was.

Luke, Carter, and Holly took a spare table, while Noah, Kate and Flora sat in the one to their left. Barton and Chelmey took a third table, while future Luke occupied the last one. The only ones standing were Don Paolo and the professor, who paced up and down slowly. Everything remained silent, until Don Paolo broke the thick tension by demanding another beer.

"Right now, sir," the man said, filling his glass.

"A hot cocoa, Dimitri!" Carter exclaimed, slapping the table and standing up.

The waiter looked at the boy, and smiled half-crookedly. "You are one witty boy, Carter Allister. How did you know?"

"How could it be possible for Dimitri to come here, lock the door and "run away" without us spotting him?" Carter scoffed, crossing his arms.

The man grinned, and his evil smile turned into laughter when he took off his disguise and revealed himself as the true Dimitri Allen, with his white lab coat and his white hat. Everyone glanced from Layton to Carter, who stood together.

"Now you'd better tell us your story, Dimitri," Holly said, standing up as well.

The man looked at them with his stormy gray eyes. "You want to know my story? Well, here you have it."

**_Flashback - Dimitri's POV_**

_Bill Hawks and I had a huge, colossal experiment going on. It was something beyond nature, surpassing time and space's limits. Yes, I'm talking about none other than time travel. We had worked in theories ever since college, where we would fantasize about defying Einstein's space-time rules and go on with what seemed a crazy project right then: building our own time machine._

_I had never thought building one of those would have any consequences whatsoever. I always thought it would work, I thought everything would turn out fine and Bill and I would get a Nobel prize. But when Claire came across in my life, something I had never felt before made me change my ideas._

_As a young man, I had never felt true love before. But as I got to know that young lady, I found out she was the woman I had longed for over the last years. Too bad she was already engaged to a young man I didn't know by then, an archaeologist called Hershel Layton. I knew she was my platonic love, but I still dreamt about that day when she would be mine..._

_Then, one day, while Bill and I were revising the machine's sketches, I realized there was a slight chance of having an explosion if the experiment went wrong. And I knew Claire, as our lab assistant, was to try the machine first. I simply couldn't let her take the risk, so I told Bill to quit the experiment. But my friend had been taken over by obsession and completely denied everything I said. He even threw me out of the laboratory. During the next few days, in which Bill gave the last touches to our time machine, I uselessly tried to convince him, but he wouldn't listen. That afternoon, he phoned Claire to come to the laboratory. When I realized what was he up to, I ran to the laboratory, but I realized it was too late. I saw how the laboratory burst out in an explosion, and I saw anything but ashes. I couldn't find Claire's body, and Bill was quickly attended by the medical services. The only thing I could do was cry._

**_End Flashback_**

Everyone in the room gasped, while Celeste just gazed down, staring right into her empty teacup. Carter turned around to face the professor, who gave him a vague nod. It seemed like both of their minds had somehow been connected.

"That is why Dimitri is building a time machine in the research facility," the boy said slowly. "But there's someone moving the strings of a higher conspiracy. A conspiracy that involves this whole London city." He looked at his two friends, his sister, Flora, and lastly at Luke. "We are not in the future London."

Everyone in the room gasped. They all glanced at each other nervously, and then looked at Layton and Carter.

"The Clockshop in Midland Road isn't a time machine as we thought," Layton explained. "It is just an elevator that brings us to an artificial underworld, created with the sole purpose: building Dimitri's machine. But this plan didn't involve love. It has something else, a deeper feeling: revenge."

"But this is not the end of it," Carter concluded. "Someone is planning something gruesome, evil that is yet to be revealed."

"And that person is you!" the professor exclaimed. His index finger traveled around the room, and pointed at Legal Luke, whose eyes widened in shock. The young man let out a soft chuckle.

"You can't be serious, professor," he said nervously.

"Of course we are, Legal," Carter said. "Or should I say, Clive."

"Clive?" Holly repeated, rather confused.

"Clive Braxton," Carter mused thoughtfully, "whose parents died in the time machine accident."

The young man stood still, staring at the professor and the young boy, as all the events that happened that day came into his mind.

**_Flashback - Clive's POV_**

_I was only six when everything happened. I had a normal life, with a normal family, house, school and friends as every other six-year-old does. That morning, I was still asleep when I suddenly heard an explosion in my house's kitchen. I opened my eyes and saw there was a thick dust around me. I coughed, and I grabbed my teddy bear tightly as I walked off my bed. I tried to walk through our small flat, and by the time I reached the kitchen, I looked at the abyss an explosion had formed. There was a huge, big hole where the kitchen should have stood, and then I heard another series of explosions, one of them close to my parents' bedroom. I saw some firemen and the police coming, and as they saw me looking down, one of the firemen came up to me and scooped me up in his arms._

_"I need to go and save my parents!" I yelled furiously, fighting against the man in a dark blue and yellow suit and red hat._

_"We will save them, little boy," he assured._

_When I reached the ground, I found myself face-to-face with a young man in his early twenties, who wore a new top hat over his head. I looked up at him, tears filling my eyes, and I clung to his leg as if I were going to die otherwise. He just stroke my hair, tears filling his eyes too. I wondered if his parents had died in the explosion too._

_"I must go inside!" I cried then. "My parents are trapped in their room!"_

_I looked at him, trying to find comfort in his brown eyes, although all I found was struggle and despair._

_"You cannot go inside," he told me. "The firemen will do their best."_

_I nodded slowly, tears shedding down my face furiously as if they were fire, and not simply tears. I stood next to the young man until some policemen carried me away._

_I spent over two years in a London orphanage. It was full with kids who had lost their parents for many different reasons. But one day, a kind, old lady adopted me. She was a very rich woman, and ensured I got the best education at Gressenheller's Engineer School. I always showed I was skilled enough with Maths, Art and Science, but I never got to Engineer School, since I was only fifteen when she died. My older adoptive brother inherited most of the fortune, but I got a part just enough to build this whole underground story. Then, I just had to find Dimitri and pull our plan up._

**_End Flashback_**

Clive let out an evil chuckle. "Greatly done, professor. Greatly done. Now what? I still have Hawks, and you can do nothing about it."

"Clive Braxton, you are arrest-" Chelmey started, pulling out his handcuffs.

Before he could even finish, Clive bolted up from his seat and ran away, grabbing Flora's arm in the process. He ran out of the local and, when everyone else caught up with him, he was already in the harbor. Flora and him were standing in a little mechanic boat. The girl was tied up with some sort of rope Clive had found, and he was starting the engine. They were just a few feet away from the harbor when Noah hopped into the water and started swimming to the boat.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" Kate yelled.

"He's a fast swimmer," Carter told her. "He'll catch up soon."

It was just a few seconds before the boy hopped onto the boat and punched Clive on the nose, while the young man punched his stomach. Noah fell backwards, holding his stomach and his eyes half-closed. He was wincing with pain, and couldn't hold it any more. He tried to kick Clive as he tied him up next to Flora, but when they arrived to the lighthouse in the middle of the river, Clive hopped off the boat and forced Noah and Flora inside.

"What is he up to?" Holly asked, clenching her teeth. She felt outraged about everything she had learnt during the last minutes. She had thought Clive was a nice, young man who only wanted to save future London from Dimitri's injustice, but he had shown himself as an evil boy who wanted to destroy the real London. But what was he up to, anyway? That was still to be revealed.

As they watched how the group entered the lighthouse, the little mass of rock started shaking as if an earthquake was happening. I just a few seconds, eight arachnid-like legs spreading out and propelling the crag up. Large drills started sticking out from the rocky base, and the lighthouse was replaced by a huge black ship. It was Clive's true headquarters.

"Professor," Carter mused. "I think we have a problem right now."

**So yeah! That was the chapter! I hope you guys liked it. Ha ha ha, I did stir up some intrigue there, didn't I? What will happen next? Well, you guys who have actually played the game will know already, but whatever...xD**

**Next chapter, "The Stronghold of Madness" will come soon! It's only three chapters to go, yikes!**

**~Venice**


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